A new Dittman Research poll in Alaska shows Rep. Mary Peltola (D) ahead of her two Republican competitors in the race for Alaska’s lone congressional seat with 56% of the vote in the state’s new rank-choice voting system.
Sarah Palin (R) would come in second with 44%.
“With an overwhelmingly Democratic state seeing an apparent surge in Republican momentum, President Biden came to the Hudson Valley of New York on Sunday to rally the party faithful for Gov. Kathy Hochul, the incumbent facing a surprisingly strong challenge from Representative Lee Zeldin, a Trump-aligned Republican,” the New York Times reports.
“The governor’s race has become one of the more competitive in the nation, despite New York being a deeply Democratic state, with registered party members outnumbering Republicans by more than 2 to 1. The state’s voters haven’t elected a Republican to a statewide office in two decades, but Mr. Zeldin has displayed strength in some polls, narrowing the gap to single digits with a campaign focused on crime and the economy.”
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the committee cannot pay former President Trump’s legal bills if he announces a bid for the White House in 2024, The Hill reports.
David Wasserman notes there’s still a lot of uncertainty in the battle for control of the House, with 35 races still in the Toss Up column.
But he says not all of them are alike and offers “my guesses as of this moment on where they’ll land.”
Donald Trump Jr. took to the stage at his father’s rally and called Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman (D) “brain dead,” the Daily Mail reports.
Said Trump Jr.: “I believe that if you’re going to be in the United States senator, you should have basic cognitive function.”
“Donald Trump is calling his top allies in Congress to push for details on their plans for impeaching President Joe Biden and top administration officials,” Rolling Stone reports.
“Specifically, Trump in recent months has repeatedly asked ‘how many’ times Republicans plan to impeach the president if they take control of the House… He has also asked about what they would do to impeach certain high-ranking Biden administration officials. Trump’s questions have touched on potential timelines for any potential impeachment inquiries, as well as on how much support impeachment has in the Republican conference.”
“As Republican candidates make their final appeal in key states, they’re tapping some of the most polarizing figures in their party and turning to messages centered on cultural division and at times pushing racial discord,” the Washington Post reports.
“At the same time, many Democrats are scrambling to highlight more moderate themes, overlooking the far left of their party and bringing in surrogates who appeal to middle-of-the-road voters.”
“In his second rally of the weekend, Donald Trump spewed his typical racism and election lies, but he also issued an apology ‘on behalf of the country,'” Rolling Stone reports.
“The apology was to Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who for many months was under investigation for alleged sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, bringing women across state lines for prostitution and obstructing justice.”
Said Trump: “The word we can’t say, I am not going to say, but he went through things having to do with that and it was terrible how he got treated. He is so tough, so strong, and everybody says he is smart and he loves this state and this country. Matt Gaetz. Great man, great man. Really great, thank you. We apologize to you on behalf of the country, all of us do, because what you went through is just terrible and so unnecessary.”
Iowa’s likely voters and those who already have cast ballots prefer Republican candidates in all four of the state’s congressional districts, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found.
“Former President Donald Trump hasn’t endorsed Gov. Ron DeSantis this year because, as he has explained, his fellow Floridian never asked. Mr. DeSantis didn’t attend the Trump rally on Sunday in Miami, his allies said, because he wasn’t personally invited,” the New York Times reports.
“Bruised egos are commonplace in politics. But rarely has a rift at the top of a party spilled so fully into view at such a pivotal moment. At a rally on Saturday night in Latrobe, Pa., Mr. Trump bestowed one of his signature nicknames on Mr. DeSantis: Ron DeSanctimonious.”
“Their escalating tensions took center stage on Sunday, with dueling campaign rallies in Florida just two days before voting concludes in the 2022 midterm elections. Mr. Trump campaigned in South Florida with Senator Marco Rubio and other Florida Republicans, while Mr. DeSantis made his case for re-election during a set of events along the state’s west coast.”
After vowing to make Twitter a bastion of “free speech,” Elon Musk announced a new policy that will remove accounts engaging in the type of “impersonation” that comedians have used to protest his takeover of the social network.
Said Musk: “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.”
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Twitter has asked a number of people it fired this week to return to the company, because it actually still needs their skills.
The Atlantic: “When the 44th president came on stage, the crowd greeted him like a long lost friend — or a favorite teacher who’d returned after a series of varyingly unimpressive substitutes.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) “has decided that he won’t run for president in 2024 — making him the first big-name Republican to step aside as former President Donald Trump and others make moves toward running,” Politico reports.
“Cotton has attributed his decision to family concerns, saying that a national campaign would take him away from his two young sons, who are seven and five years old.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland “has long said that the Justice Department is up to the task of investigating former President Donald Trump, whose final weeks in office included his supporters attacking the Capitol as he refused to acknowledge his election loss,” the New York Times reports.
“That assertion was part of Mr. Garland’s desire to show that the department could operate above partisanship, acting as neither the weapon nor the enemy of any president or party. The real and perceived political land mines that accompany an investigation into Mr. Trump could be navigated, Mr. Garland suggested, by strictly following the rule of law.”
“But Mr. Garland’s hopes are being tested by Mr. Trump’s apparent plan to announce that he will run again for the White House, a step that would transform him from a former president into an electoral opponent of President Biden at a time of extreme political polarization — an environment leading the Justice Department to weigh whether to appoint a special counsel to handle open criminal inquiries related to Mr. Trump.”
Washington Post: “The new messaging from the party leader came amid anxieties among Arizona Republicans that their assaults on early voting could ultimately suppress GOP turnout in a cycle that will help decide control of the U.S. Senate, the governor’s office and dozens of other contests.”
“In a swing state where Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election by 10,457 votes, any shift in voter participation — a slight increase for one party or decrease for another — could decide a tight race.”
“President Biden’s top national-security adviser has engaged in recent months in confidential conversations with top aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin in an effort to reduce the risk of a broader conflict over Ukraine and warn Moscow against using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The officials said that U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan has been in contact with Yuri Ushakov, a foreign-policy adviser to Mr. Putin. Mr. Sullivan also has spoken with his direct counterpart in the Russian government, Nikolai Patrushev.”
“The aim has been to guard against the risk of escalation and keep communications channels open, and not to discuss a settlement of the war in Ukraine.”
An envelope containing “suspicious white powder” was received Saturday at the campaign headquarters of the Republican nominee for governor in Arizona, Kari Lake, CNN reports.
Politico: “Polls show most voters have no idea Congress even passed the legislation — let alone that it’s already set to provide tens of billions of dollars to projects such as rail tunnels under the Hudson River, Everglades restoration work in Florida or a bridge replacement in Tennessee.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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